The next stage of consultation about the University of Tasmania’s city move begins this month with a call for expressions of interest to join an 80-person community panel, which will help shape the future of our southern campuses.
Expressions of interest will be open for two weeks from Monday, 25 July. The University is keen to get a cross section of the community to join the panel, bringing with them a diverse range of perspectives and views.
With the engagement ramping up, the University will pause the process for the proposed Sandy Bay planning scheme amendment.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black said the initial focus of the community engagement would be on the city move.
“Education and research are the University’s top priorities, which is why we must make sure we support our staff and students with the best possible facilities in the best possible locations,” Professor Black said.
“This has driven the development of new campuses in Burnie and Launceston and the gradual move of much of our southern operations into the Hobart CBD. Indeed, once the Forestry Building is complete, more than 50 percent of our staff and students in the south will be based in Hobart’s city centre.
“Wherever we invest in new facilities for our students and our staff, our commitment is always to make sure that we are also having a positive impact on the spaces and the communities around us.
“To do that, we need to work together not just to solve concerns like traffic and parking but also to ensure we are adding amenity to the city that people truly value.”
This phase of external consultation will run through until the end of the year. The community panel will meet regularly, with their sessions to be independently facilitated and publicly reported.
Professor Black said the community had made it clear that further consultation about the future of Sandy Bay was necessary. The University will pause the proposed planning scheme amendment to create time and space for that engagement to happen.
“We want to ensure that everybody has more opportunities to provide input into what happens at Sandy Bay, and we won’t proceed with the planning process until that has happened,” he said.
There will opportunities for the community to engage on the city move in addition to the work of the community panel and a new phase of staff and student consultation is also underway, being led by the University’s Academic Senate.
